I've only read two articles from Yahoo! new online magazine The Postgame. The first was Jason King's terrific piece on the common bond between Billy Donovan, Anthony Grant, and John Pelphrey.

That piece was, quite simply, fantastic.

The second article I read was almost as good.

Les Carpenter told the story of La Roche College, a DIII school in Pennsylvania who had their head coach Scott Lang pass away back on Dec. 10th. Its a terrific article, and if you haven't read it I strongly urge you to go do it now.

But be forewarned, the story is a bit different as of today. You see, La Roche hadn't lost since Lang died ... until Saturday.

Penn State-Behrend got 19 points and 10 boards from Russ Conley as the Lions ended the Redhawks 16 game winning streak with a 64-41 win. Behrend, who moved to 16-2 and 11-1 in the AMCC with the win, tied La Roche for first in the conference, a half game ahead of Medaille.

The winning streak may be over, but the season that the Redhawks have dedicated to their former coach moves on. Once again, I strongly urge you to read the article.

(I've been wanting to write something like this for a long time, and after the events of this past week, I believe that time is now. Also, I believe I have the adequate credentials to write such a post: I've been part of a court-storming following an upset victory over the No. 1 team in the country. But I've also been on the wrong end of many-an-overtime-game-winning-goal-dogpile. In fact, my ratio of dodging dog-piles to actually participating in them is astronomically-high.)

The storming of a court is a time-honored tradition in college basketball. But in recent years, it's been watered-down due to a lack of knowledge and understanding of what constitutes a court-storming. Many analysts, announcers and talking-heads have spoken out against court-storming when they have felt them to be unwarranted, most-notably, Dick Vitale, who comes from the Barry-Sanders School of Thought "Act like you've been there before".

Down south, in SEC country, schools are fined by the conference if their students storm the court, and only in a few instances (South Carolina/Kentucky 2010) would the schools probably be OK with picking up the check.

I mention this only because, well, this past week we witnessed at least six court-stormings, and I'm not entirely sure any of these games finished in a way that necessitated having the court stormed. Well, each contest had some elements of what constitutes a court-storming. But if you only have pie crust and no apples, you probably shouldn't make an apple pie. (OK, that made like no sense, but keep reading. I swear I'll stay away from the analogies)The thing is, with the right game-results, and the right environment, a court-storming can be a beautiful thing. But let's take a look at six incidences that took place this week, all which received scrutiny from the media, in hopes to nail down a-somewhat-concrete set of rules or guidelines for performing the proper court-storming.

No. 9 BYU 71, No. 4 SDSU 59 in Utah

This was the biggest game of the year west of the Mississippi river, and probably the biggest game for each of these programs in the past couple of years. JimmerJam2011 was sweeping the nation. The Aztecs were undefeated. All solid reasons why a court-storming could be in effect. But now think about this: BYU won by 13. The outcome had been decided with four minutes to go. BYU is not a Cinderella-story, they are a legitimate top-10 team. Yes I understand, the students just wanted to touch Jimmer, but a 13-point victory over a team you were favored to beat by five is no reason to storm a court. Verdict: Unnecessary

Providence 83, No. 7 Villanova 68 in Providence

Other than the fact that Villanova was never in this ball-game, this was a decent example of court-storming. But I'm not sure we can get over the fact that Villanova was never in this contest therefore Providence could have probably done with out the post-game chaos. But this one a good amount of prerequisites: a vastly-superior-top-10 opponent and a large, passionate fan base. But still, it was the wrong atmosphere. These types of upsets are bound to happen in the Big East, so a 15-point home win (unless you're DePaul) doesn't really seem like the proper time to storm the court.Verdict: Unnecessary

Indiana 52, No. 21 Illinois 49 in Indiana

If Indiana had beaten Ohio State, this would be a no-brainer. But Illinois had lost three of four and were on their way out of the top-25. Yes, Indiana is a legendary program with a passionate fanbase chomping-at-the-bit to return to glory. And yes the Hoosiers won in-large part to Jordan Hulls clutch-shooting late in the game to claim victory but in this case, the importance of this game and the current market-value of their opponents didn't constitute a court-storming. Plus, it was a pretty half-assed effort as well. Verdict: Close, but unnecessary

New Mexico 86, No. 9 BYU 77 in New Mexico

I kinda see why New Mexico fans rushed the court. JimmerJam2011 was at an all-time high. It was a must-win game for the Lobos, and well, it was at The Pit. The game was a close, back-and-forth battle for 39 minutes, but even with the nine point win, I'm not sure a court-storming was in order. I have no problem with it happening, but it could have been a lot better.Verdict: Unnecessary

St. John's 93, No. 3 Duke 72 in New York City

This had all the makings of a worthy court-storming except for one fatal flaw: the Johnnies won by 21. A margin-of-victory that high negates a court-storming regardless of other pending circumstances. St. John's basketball is on the up-and-up, and playing against Duke in Madison Sqaure Garden on a football-less Sunday could have set the stage for an epic finish. But like I said, the Johnnies won by 21. If Duke had rallied late to tie the game, only to see St. John's hit a late foul-shot or game-winner, then storm-away, but even if St. John's had beaten the Lakers by 21, you don't storm the court.Verdict: Unnecessary

Washington State 87, No. 17 Washington 80 at Wash-State

Rivalry game? check. Ranked-opponent? check. ripped straight from the headlines? check. Close finish? not-so-much. See folks, there's the problem. Wazzu was up eight with four minutes to play. They were up eight with three minutes to play, and were up eight with two minutes to play. The end-result needs to be more dramatic than that to constitute a court-storming. If Washington was say, a top-5 team, then I totally agree with the decision, but this wasn't a stunning upset. Verdict: Close, but unnecessary

So you see, six court-stormings and not a single one is fully-justifiable. Now, having looked at a descent sample-set of mediocre court-stormings lets hash out some guidelines and prerequisites to ensure that court-stormings in the future are done only when absolutely necessary.

Prerequisites- Must be a game of importance (Gameday game, Big Monday, rivalry game, whiteout, Senior Day, undefeated team, No. 1 in the country, Conference Championship etc.)- There must be a significant difference in talent between the winning team and losing team- The game must still be undecided with two minutes to play- Only the losing team can be ranked.

Guidelines- You can only storm the court once per season (but that does not mean every team is allowed one court-storming per season)- A dramatic finish, such as a half-court-buzzer-beater can be grounds for sporadic-court-storming even if not all the prerequisites have been met- The entire student section must partake (A half-assed attempt is grounds for an immediate revoke of any/all court-storming privileges)

Now, there are exceptions to every rule. But hopefully, if these guidelines are followed we can limit the number of unnecessary court-stormings, which will in-turn, limit the amount of bemoaning from the sports community.

Because, like I said earlier, a court-storming, when done correctly, is a beautiful thing.

We here at B.I.A.H don't fancy ourselves gamblers, but we do know a lot of people with crippling addictions to gambling. So why not help enable them, right? Semi-regularly, we will provide you a couple of picks and one lead-pipe-lock that you can take to the bank. But if you take our advice and don't win any money, you aren't allowed to come bash are knee-caps in.

Its a light night for college hoops, but there are a couple of lines that I like.

8:30 pm: Northern Colorado (11-8, 7-1) @ Northern Arizona (11-8, 3-4)Northern Colorado has been the best team in the Big Sky since conference season kicked off. In fact, if it wasn't for a 40 footer at the buzzer over the weekend at Weber State, the Bears would be undefeated in the league at the midway point of the season. Northern Arizona has struggled to close out some close games this season, including a 68-67 loss to Weber State at home two weeks ago. The Lumberjacks do have a star in Cameron Jones, but UNC has done a pretty good job this season against big time back court players -- Demetri McCamey had just 11 points against the Bears while Santa Clara's Kevin Foster finished below his season average with 19 points. Oh, and UNC is getting 3.5 points. I like it.

The Pick: Northern Colorado +3.5

9:00 pm: No. 3 Texas @ No. 16 Texas A&M

The line in this game is Texas -1.5. I don't love it, and my gut tells me to stay away from it. That said, it looks great on paper. Texas A&M is a tough team at home, I'll admit that, but the Longhorns have been awesome of late, especially on the road. They came back from 15 down to beat Kansas at Phog Allen Fieldhouse and then beat Oklahoma State by 15 in Gallagher-Iba Arena on the same night that the Cowboys were celebrating the ten year anniversary of the plane crash that killed ten members of their program. Throw that in with the beatdowns they handed Missouri this same Texas A&M team in the past 12 days, and there may not be a team playing better basketball than Texas right now, especially on the defensive end of the floor.

9:00 pm: No. 3 Texas @ No. 16 Texas A&M: Just 12 days ago, the Aggies went into Austin and were embarrassed by the Longhorns. The final was 81-60, but that score doesn't really do justice to UT's dominance. Tonight, the Aggies have a chance to avenge that loss and to prove that they aren't just another team with an over inflated record thanks to a weak schedule and a couple of close wins at home. That sentiment has grown stronger thanks to another embarrassing road loss on Saturday, this time to Nebraska.

A&M is going to need to do a couple of things if they want to win this game tonight. For starters, they need to be stronger inside. Tristan Thompson dominated A&M's bigs early in the last meeting, and as the Aggies focused more and more on Thompson, it allowed Jordan Hamilton space on the perimeter. Hamilton finished with 27 points, including eight quickly at the start of the second half that put the game out of reach. Texas has proven to be one of the best defensive teams in the country this season (they have actually moved into first in Kenpom's rankings), and A&M isn't exactly an offensive juggernaut. Beyond Khris Middleton, they don't really have many players that can create their own shots. If Middleton isn't scoring, the Aggies are in trouble.

7:00 pm: No. 13 Louisville @ No. 14 Georgetown: There may not be two hotter teams in the Big East than the Hoyas and the Cardinals. Louisville is coming off of last second wins over West Virginia and UConn while the Hoyas have bounced back from a 1-4 start in conference play to win four straight.

For Georgetown, their return to relevancy in the Big East has been the reemergence of Austin Freeman as a go-to scorer. He struggled a bit during their losing streak, but his 30 point performance -- which included a number of clutch shots -- at Villanova was impressive. While Chris Wright has struggled mightily, reserves like Hollis Thompson, Henry Sims, and Nate Lubick have all played well the last few games.

For Louisville, the question of whether or not they have a "star" may have been answered. Peyton Siva was terrific in the clutch last week, hitting the game-winner in the Cardinal's win against West Virginia while also making five or six huge plays down the stretch against UConn. Continue reading...

College basketball has not seen a team go undefeated since Bobby Knight's Indiana Hoosiers went 32-0 in 1975-1976. The closest we have seen since then was a Jameer Nelson-led St. Joseph's team that went 27-0 in the 2003-2004 season before losing to Xavier in the Atlantic-10 tournament. Every season a team flirts with the notion of an undefeated season, but every season that notion slowly fades as January turns to February and February turns to March. BYU's senior guard Jackson Emery, has made the bold prediction that his team, a Cougar squad that finished with a 27-4 record last season, will in fact go undefeated this season.

We have decided that, in honor of Emery's swagger, we will keep a watch on the BYU Cougar's schedule, see if they can walk-the-walk. We will also keep tabs on any other undefeated teams who try to make a run at the perfect season.

Week 11:You know, it's kinda funny. We've been so enamored with the recent explosion of JimmerJam2011 that we lost sight of what the Emery Board was all out: playfully ripping Jackson Emery. If you recall, after BYU's first loss of the season, a head-scratcher to UCLA in Anaheim, Emery clarified that although they had lost, he still thought they could go the rest of the season without losing another game.Well, I guess Mr. Emery forgot to remind his teams of his statements following their emotional home victory against SDSU on Wednesday. Because going into The Pit for a conference match-up against a team desperate for a signature win is not an easy thing to do. The Cougars played well, but new Mexico played better. BYU got only 9 points from their bench, all from Charles Abouo, and while Jimmer did drop 32, he did so on 12-26 shooting.

As for Mr. Emery, he had a somewhat-cold week. In the last two games, he has shot a combined 3-for-15, including 2-for-12 from behind the arc, and recorded only a mere five assists.

Things don't get much easier for the Cougars from here on out. They travel to Wyoming on Wednesday then host UNLV on Saturday night. Yes Wyoming is only 1-6 in the conference but that one win came at home against the same New Mexico squad that just beat BYU.

"There can be only ONE!". Well no not really, but there's only one undefeated team left in the country, and it's tOSU. The Buckeyes' other sensational freshman, Aaron Craft had a big week, scoring a combined 24-points on 9-for-17 shooting and dished out nine assists in Ohio State's two wins. This team is loaded with talent from top to bottom, has experience, size, great coaching, and well, pretty much everything a team needs to win six consecutive games in March. The Buckeyes have shown they can win close games on the road, and can win games in which the opponents force them to play a different style of basketball. And to think I just wrote an entire paragraph about tOSU and didn't even mention Jared Sullinger. That's how good the Buckeyes are.

Drop-Outs

No. 6 San Diego State: 21-1 (6-1)First Loss: 59-71 at No.9 BYU

"They have been weighed, they have been measured, and they have been found wanting." Or you could just say they lost a hard-fought game on the road in one of the toughest arenas to play at in the entire country. But on the plus side, Kawhi Leonard was battling flu-like symptoms prior to the game and still had a large night. Circle Saturday the 26th on your calenders, because that's when the SDSU fans get to return the favor to BYU.

The Bottom of the Barrel:

It would be rude of us to include the "have's" and but not the "have-not's". After all, planetary balance is very essential. For every team that hasn't lost a game, there has to be a team still fighting for their first win.

Another week, and another couple of losses for the Gentlemen. They capped-off a four-game road trip by getting smacked by Summit League leaders Oakland 100-70, and finally get a chance to play in front of their home crowd, if they have one. With only seven games left, it's looking less and less likely that they will get that elusive-W.

One of the preeminent talking points of this college basketball season has been the struggles of the ACC.

As a whole, the league is down, riding the success of Duke to keep them above the likes of the Pac-10 in conference pecking order. But with the embarrassing loss handed to the Blue Devils by St. John's on Sunday afternoon, questions regarding the overall strength of the ACC grow louder and louder.

That said, Duke's disappointing performance since Kyrie Irving went down -- which I detailed in this post -- has done more than just force us to question how many ACC teams will eventually make the tournament.

It may have opened the door for their Tobacco Road rivals to make a run at the ACC title.

North Carolina didn't exactly have a dominating start to the season. They lost their first four games against notable competition, and while their win over Kentucky back in early December was nice (and aided by an ill-timed Terrence Jones nap), the Heels struggled to knock off lesser competition. After less than impressive wins against Virginia and Virginia Tech, the Heels were essentially written off nationally when Georgia Tech swept the floor with them in a 20 point beatdown.

It didn't help matters that North Carolina was coming off of a season in which they crumbled during ACC play and were relegated to the NIT.

After that Georgia Tech loss, Roy Williams finally made a change. He promoted freshman Kendall Marshall to the starting lineup while sending junior Larry Drew II to the bench. It was a move that Carolina fans had been calling for for a long time and one that has, well, been relatively unimportant. Regardless of who has started for the Heels, both Marshall and Drew essentially split time at the point. Neither has seen a dramatic improvement or drop off in the three games since the change, and down the stretch against both Clemson and Miami, Williams opted to go offense-defense, bringing in Drew every time Marshall was on the floor for a defensive possession and putting Marshall back in when UNC had the ball.

I know that this change happened to coincide with three straight UNC wins, but I don't think that the change is what has sparked this winning streak. Replacing one mediocre point guard with another slightly-better-but-still-far-from-great point guard doesn't change the course of a season.

If I had to pick a turning point in the season, it would be the last minute of UNC's win over Miami. As he has been essentially all season, Harrison Barnes was struggling with his jumpshot. He was 2-9 from the floor, he had just six points, and UNC was down 71-69 with just 1:13 left on the clock. Barnes proceeded to knock down a jumper shot to tie the game, and one possession later he hit a three with just 6.6 seconds on the clock that turned out to be the game-winner.

Now the general consensus on what has ailed Barnes, the first freshman to ever be named a preseason AP all-american, this season has been confidence more than anything. Based on his play against NC State, those two late jumpers against the Hurricanes gave Barnes that confidence. The freshman had 25 points on 10-16 shooting against the Wolfpack on Saturday.

Now I know that is just one data point, and one data point is no where near a large enough sample size to draw any kind of conclusion. But its worth talking about. That game was the first time that Barnes scored more than 20 points in his collegiate career. It was the first time he made more than seven field goals. It was, without a shadow of a doubt, his best performance as a freshman, and probably not a coincidence that it came just three days after he won a game for the Tar Heels.

UNC's issue this season, ironically, has not been on the defensive end of the floor. According to Kenpom's rankings, they are actually the seventh-best defensive team in the country. While John Henson and Tyler Zeller aren't as burly as you would like, they are both long, athletic, run the floor, and do an admirable job protecting the rim and rebounding the ball given their physical limitations.

Where the Heels struggle is on the offensive end of the floor. Its no secret why. Roy Williams likes to have his team run in transition and relies on a point guard that can create shots -- whether they are dunks for his big men or open threes for his shooters. As of now, however, UNC fans are going to need to accept the fact that they are probably going to have less-than-optimal play from their point guards this season. It happens. Drew isn't very good offensively, and as well as Marshall passes the ball, he turns the ball over way too much and may actually be a worse jump shooter than Drew.

As a result, the Heels are just the 72nd most efficient offense in the country.

If Barnes can find a rhythm -- well, build on the rhythm he found on Saturday -- on the offensive end of the floor, it makes the Heels a much more potent offensive team. Struggles or not, there is a reason that everyone that saw Barnes play in high school thought he was going to be a star at this level. How many teams would love to be able to add a potential all-american to their roster at the end of January?

Which brings me back to Duke.

The has been almost no positive buzz surrounding UNC this season, but the Heels are currently all alone in second place in the ACC, a game behind Duke in the win column.

Once again, one data point is not enough to draw any reliable conclusions, but it should serve notice that UNC had their best game of the ACC season against NC State when Barnes went off.

The Tar Heels have a back loaded ACC schedule -- they still have to play Florida State, Boston College, and Duke twice each.

But keep an eye on the Heels.

With Harrison Barnes playing like the high school all-american Harrison Barnes, UNC is capable of making a run at the ACC title.

Louisville doesn't have any one star, but Peyton Siva sure looked like he is primed to be one down the stretch against the Huskies. Louisville trailed for much of the second half, getting down by as much as nine points midway through the half. But Siva sparked a 14-3 run with an and-one bucket in the paint and capped it with two free throws that gave the Cardinals a 57-55 lead. UConn would score four straight points, but Siva broke down UConn's defense -- something that would become a common theme -- and score another tough bucket in the paint with 30 seconds left to tie the game. Kemba Walker got a decent look at a jumper on the baseline, but he missed and the game headed to overtime.

In that first OT, Preston Knowles scored Louisville's first five points, but a Shabazz Napier three and four UConn free throws gave the Huskies a 68-64 lead. After Mike Marra hit a three and Napier went 1-2 from the line, Siva again broke down the UConn defense, tying the game with a dunk in traffic. Walker had two defenders run at him and gave the ball up to Jeremy Lamb, who missed a three point floater that would have won the game.

In the second overtime, back to back threes gave the Cardinals a six point lead, and while UConn made a push, it was two driving hoops from Siva that ended being the difference. Why? Because Louisville missed three straight free throws down the stretch that nearly cost them the game. But with the score 79-78 and eight seconds left, UConn took six seconds to get the ball in Kemba's hands. He was forced to take a 35 foot three for the win that bounced off the rim. With the win, the Cardinals moved into sole possession of second place in the Big East.

Florida 104, Georgia 91 2OT: In a back and forth game down in Athens, the Gators rallied from a nine point first half deficit to take a lead late in the second half. But Georgia made a run, and thanks to two missed free throws by Erving Walker, Georgia was able to force overtime on a tip-in by Trey Thompkins at the buzzer:

After an exciting overtime period, Florida was able to force a second overtime period thanks to this 30 footer from Erving Walker:

In the second overtime, Chandler Parsons got hot and the Gators eventually won by 13 points, but the best moment of the game had nothing to with basketballs.

Utah State 89, Hawaii 84 2OT: The Aggies won their 15th straight game and moved to 9-0 in the WAC, but it wasn't easy. Hawaii was down by as much as 10 points in the second half, but Zane Johnson and Jeremiah Ostrowski sparked a come back. Bill Amis eventually gave the Rainbows the lead at 61-60. The two teams would trade baskets before Brian Green, who had a team-high 22 points, hit a tough pull up jumper to force the first overtime. Hawaii again had a late lead in the first OT, but Green once again tied the game with a 28 foot three. In the second OT, USU jumped out to an early lead, but after Johnson hit a three to cut the lead to 80-79, the Aggies hit their free throws down the stretch to win the game.

Half-court buzzer beaters: Is it just me, or does it seem like there are more buzzer beaters than usual this season. Weber State handed Northern Colorado their first loss of the Big Sky season on this 45 footer from Scott Bamforth:

Not to be outdone, freshman Michael Alvarado of Manhattan banked in a 55 footer to beat Marist:

Player of the Week: Peyton Siva, Louisville

Siva didn't put up the greatest numbers this week -- in two Louisville wins, he averaged 17.5 ppg and 5.0 apg -- but when his points came were much more important than the total number that he scored. Against West Virginia, he helped spark a comeback from an 11 point second half deficit, sealing the win with a tough, up-and-under layup off the glass.

As we already mentioned, Siva was unstoppable in the final minutes against UConn, dissecting the Huskie's defense for four huge buckets late in the game. The knock of Louisville all season long has been that they don't have a star, that they don't have a go-to player that they can give the ball to down the stretch. After this performance from Siva, it appears the Cardinals now have two.

Preston Knowles has hit a number of big shots in his career. He also sparked Louisville's comeback from 18 points down against Marquette. Combine his shot making with Siva's play making ability, and the Cardinals back starts to look much more dangerous.

The All-the-were-good-too team (This was hard to do. There were a lot of terrific performances by back court players):

G: Darius Morris, Michigan: Morris was terrific in the Wolverine's win over Michigan State, scoring 17 points and dishing out eight assists. He was even better in a win over Iowa, finishing with 12 points, 10 boards, and 11 assists to notch the second triple double in Michigan history.

G: Tu Holloway, Xavier: Xavier certified their dominance in the Atlantic 10 with a 23 point win at Richmond. Holloway was incredible, scoring 33 points to go along with seven boards, five assists, and a 17-17 performance from the line while helping to hold Kevin Anderson to 10 points. Oh, and he had 22 in a win over George Washington as well.

G: Brian Green, Utah State: Green had 28 points in the Aggies win against San Jose State early in the week, but it was his 22 point performance against Hawaii that drew my attention. Not only did he score 22 points, but he forced overtime and double overtime with clutch jumpers down the stretch, the second of which was a 28 footer.

F: Mike Singletary, Texas Tech: Singletary had 33 points, 10 boards, and five assists (the first ever 30-10-5 game in Big XII history) against Iowa State while adding 25 points and seven boards in an overtime win over Oklahoma State.

C: Kenneth Faried, Morehead State: Faried's best performance this week was a 23 point, 23 rebound performance he had in a win over Tennessee State. He also went for 17 points and 16 boards in a win over Austin Peay and notched 13 points and 15 boards as the Eagles won at Ball State. Should I mention he also had seven blocks, five steals, and 19 offensive boards?

Three weeks ago, I said I was almost ready to write off the Hoyas. Its a good thing I put an "almost" in that sentence, because the Hoyas have proved that their season is anything but finished. Georgetown had two impressive wins this week. On Wednesday, they smacked a St. John's team by 25 that would go on to do the same thing to Duke on Sunday. Then on Saturday, the Hoyas went into Philly and knocked off Villanova 69-66. Chris Wright is still struggling (he didn't score a single point against Villanova) but thanks to Austin Freeman's resurgence (he had 30 at Villanova), Jason Clark's excellent all-around play, and Hollis Thompson's move to sixth man, the Hoyas are playing some of their best basketball of the season.

Its perfect timing. Georgetown is now 5-4 in the Big East, but with Villanova and Syracuse both coming back to earth and the question marks surrounding Louisville, Notre Dame, and UConn, there really only seems to be one dominant team in the Big East. Georgetown is still very much in the thick of the race for a top four seed in the Big East and a double bye in the conference tournament next month.

Teams deserving a shout out: This week was one of the crazier weeks I've ever experienced as a college hoops fan. Teams ranked in the top 25 went a preposterous 22-20 this week. Included in that record was this weekend, where 13 of the top 25 teams in the country picked up a loss. That doesn't mean that the past week was forgettable for everyone, however:

New Mexico: The Lobos picked up two huge wins this week, knocking off both TCU and BYU at the Pit. The BYU win was incredibly important, as it gives Steve Alford's club a win to hang their tournament resume on. New Mexico has plenty of talent on their roster, but seeing as this is a relatively new team -- they lost Darington Hobson and Roman Martinez last season and added three freshmen this season and Drew Gordon in December -- it looks as if it has taken a while for this team to gel. New Mexico has the pieces to be capable of a run down the stretch of the season. Hopefully, knocking off the Cougars is the spark they needed.

Louisville: As we mentioned, Peyton Siva's performance in the clutch this week was impressive. The Cardinals picked up two huge wins over teams in the upper half of the Big East and now sit alone in second place in the conference. Keep in mind, the Cardinals are doing all of this without Raheem Buckles. Or Jared Swopshire, for that matter.

Texas: All of a sudden, the Longhorns look like one of the four or five best teams in the country. This week, they picked up a tough win at Oklahoma State on the night the Cowboys honored the ten year anniversary of the plane crash that killed ten members of their team before they demolished Missouri at home. The final of that 71-58 win against Missouri doesn't do the Longhorn's dominance justice, either. If they hadn't shot 16-34 from the free throw line, it would have been a 25 point win.

Xavier: This wasn't supposed to be Xavier's year. With the injuries and eligibility issues they have had this season, it was supposed to be Temple and Richmond that rose to the top of the Atlantic 10. But after a 23 point beatdown of the Spiders in Richmond on Saturday, the Muskies are now sitting at 7-0 in league play and well on their way to another conference championship and NCAA Tournament bid. Chris Mack better have his name near the top of every Coach of the Year list.

Penn State: Believe it or not, the Nittany Lions are now officially on the bubble, which is impressive considering this is a team that few thought was capable of competing in the Big Ten this season. Well, compete they have, as the Bryce Jordan Center has become the conference's best home court advantage. With wins over Illinois and Michigan State at home already, Talor Battle scored 20 of his 22 points in the second half as Penn State rallied from a nine point halftime deficit to knock off Wisconsin. Penn State has a brutal finish to the season -- @ Illinois, Michigan, @ Michigan State, Northwestern, Minnesota, @ Wisconsin, @ Northwestern, Ohio State, @ Minnesota -- but if they can piece together a .500 record in that stretch, the bubble is weak enough that this group could very well sneak into the Big Dance.

Kansas: Kansas won at Colorado and at home against Kansas State this week, which wouldn't be all that impressive if they didn't have a midweek trip to Washington DC for the funeral of Thomas Robinson's mother. Kansas has as much talent in the world, and with this added motivation and support, the Jayhawks are a scary team this season. It should be noted that in the win over Kansas State, Robinson had 17 points and nine boards.

Washington State: The Cougars have fallen down to fourth in the Pac-10 standings, but that doesn't mean this is a team that you can write off just yet. They proved that fact with an 87-80 win over Washington on Sunday night. When Klay Thompson, Faisal Aden, and Reggie Moore are all playing well, Wazzu is not a team that you want to be playing.

VCU: The Commodores moved into sole possession of first place in the CAA with a 3-0 week, which included a statement win over Hofstra. I saw this team play at the Preseason NIT in November, and I said then that they looked like a group capable of winning a game or two in the NCAA Tournament. They are balanced, they have a ton of shooters, and they have a high-major post presence in Jamie Skeen.

Northern Iowa: The Panthers have now won seven straight games in the Valley, capping off that streak with a hard fought, 61-60 win over Missouri State on the road. The Panthers are the hottest team in the conference, sit just a game back of both the Bears and Wichita State, and own road wins over both the teams they trail in league play.

Morehead State: The Ohio Valley may not be the two team race we all expected it to be as five teams are within a game of first place. But thanks to a 2-0 week against two of those five teams, the Eagles find themselves just a game behind Austin Peay and Murray State in the loss column.

Seton Hall: I want the Pirates to be successful this season. We all talk about how devastating this season has been for Thomas Robinson, but no one mentions that the Pirates are a misplaced defibrillator and a poorly aimed bullet away from losing their two best players, Herb Pope and Jeremy Hazell. This past week, the Pirates started their season in the right direction, beating Syracuse by 22 points in the Dome and knocking off Providence.

Texas Tech and Oklahoma: Neither Texas Tech nor Oklahoma will be fighting for an at-large bid this season, but it appears both teams are fighting to keep their coaches employed. Both the Red Raiders and the Sooners are on three game winning streaks right now.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Seriously. They did. What makes it all the more surprising is that for much of the second half, the Johnnies were up by more than 20 for just about the entire second half. This wasn't just a win for St. John's. It was a beatdown. A mollywhopping. A poleaxing.

So what happened?

St. John's press forced Duke into way too many turnovers. The Blue Devils couldn't hit a shot from three. The Johnnies got to the rim at will and dominated Duke in the paint. Essentially, the Johnnies had a favorable personnel matchup and played damn near a perfect game while Duke played about as poorly as a team with two all-americans on their roster is capable of playing.

It was a perfect storm.

And the game was over by the half.

What does the win mean for St. John's?

Its huge.

Back when the Johnnies started a string of eight games against top 25 teams in Kenpom's rankings with a win then No. 9 Georgetown at Madison Square Garden to move to 3-0 in the Big East, we said that we would reevaluate St. John's when that stretch of over. The final tally -- 3-5 with wins over the Hoyas, Notre Dame, and Duke, all at home. Throw in a win at West Virginia, and the Red Storm have stockpiled some pretty impressive wins.

They also have some ugly losses, namely to Fordham and St. Bonaventure.

This win doesn't solidify a tournament bid. The Johnnies, like every other team on the bubble, still have quite a bit of work to do. But picking up a win like this out of conference this late in the year does wonders not only for St. John's, but for the Big East in general, in the computer rankings.

What does it mean for Duke?

It affirms a number of suspicions that we have all had for quite some time.

There is no question that Duke is one of the top ten teams in the country, but they look far from unbeatable, like many speculated early in the season. I still maintain that Duke's biggest issue is their lack of interior strength, but with every passing game Kyrie Irving's absence becomes more and more glaring.

Not only did the Blue Devil's stud freshman create easy scoring opportunities for his teammates, particularly the Plumlees and Ryan Kelly inside, he made Duke's back court that much more versatile. Nolan Smith is a great player, but he's not necessarily a true point guard; he's more of a scorer that happens to be able to handle the ball and create.

Seth Curry and Andre Dawkins are both very good at what they do, but they don't do much more than catch-and-shoot. With Irving and Smith on the floor together, Coach K had two perimeter players that were capable of doing everything you as of a guard. Now they have one.

Without Irving, this offense becomes much less dynamic.

The question now becomes where Duke will get seeded in the tournament. They don't have any impressive wins -- Kansas State and Michigan State are far less impressive than they were when the games were played. Same thing with Butler. Marquette and Maryland aren't top 25 teams. In fact, Duke doesn't have one win over a team that is currently ranked. That's not exactly the kind of resume you expect to see from a No. 1 seed.

What does it mean for the ACC and the Big East?

Nothing that we didn't already know. The Big East is really good. The ACC is pretty bad.

But wins like this happen all the time. Seton Hall beat Syracuse by 22 in the Carrier Dome. Drexel, a middle of the pack CAA team, beat Louisville, who sits a game out of first in the Big East. Fordham, who is at the bottom of the Atlantic 10, beat this same St. John's team. No one is claiming that those wins mean anything more than, well, those wins.

If you take anything out of this win, think about what it means for St. John's playing in the Garden. They have some impressive home wins and are now attracting bigger and bigger crowds.

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Weber State was a favorite in the Big Sky heading into the season, but that lasted until Damian Lillard, the Wildcats leading scorer and reigning conference player of the year, had his season ended with a broken foot.

With Lillard out, the door was opened for Northern Colorado, who jumped out to a 7-0 start in league play. Included in that 7-0 start was a 65-46 win over Weber State in Greeley, CO, just last weekend.

The Bears made their return trip to Ogden, UT, on Saturday, and let's just say that things turned out a bit better for the Wildcats. Devon Beitzel hit two free throws with 2.4 seconds left to give UNC a 71-69 lead, and that's when Scott Bamforth decided to make his presence known:

The video is quick, I know, but that is Bamforth hitting a 40 footer at the buzzer to hand the Bears their first loss of the season in the Big Sky.

Wake Forest is probably the worst BCS-conference team in the country. But you know what, they got their first conference win of the season tonight, beating Virginia 76-71. And man was there one-helluva-poster-dunk in the second half.

Just because a team sucks doesn't mean they don't have players who can't throw it down.

They have Travis McKie, and man can that guy dunk.

A note to Assane Sene: You are not Dikembe Mutumbo. Just get out of the way.

We have to give a shout out to @theMikanDrill for giving us the 4-1-1 on this dunk, as well as @BubbProg as usual. The man is always first on the scene.

Here at B.I.A.H we don't discriminate. A big dunk is still a big dunk, even if it's D-II, D-III or NAIA.

If you're a hoops fan, you probably remember the name "Winona State". They were the team that was on the wrong-end of the greatest comeback in college hoops history. Well, Two days ago, they were on the wrong end of a brutal posterization, courtesy of Minnesota State's Jefferson Mason.

Winona State gets a lot of press, it's just not the type of press they'd prefer.

UPDATE: Our friends from the Land of 1,000 Lakes, the Minnesota blog From The Barn had a great tweet about the All-Name worthiness of Jefferson Mason:

I'm just disappointed that you didn't mention that Jefferson Mason has the perfect name for an 1840s presidental candidate

- This post is a couple days old, but needs to be re-mentioned. The BracketBusters match ups are coming up soon and it feels like nobody knows that. Andy Katz provides his picks for 11 match-ups that should take place

- Apparently Freddy Asprilla, the former FIU and K-State player who left Manhattan, Kansas earlier in the month to pursue a pro career to raise money for his ailing mother, is going to transfer to Canasius. Since when has Canasius been allowed to pay players and get away with it. (Well, you'd have to pay me to play in Buffalo)

We here at B.I.A.H don't fancy ourselves gamblers, but we do know a lot of people with crippling addictions to gambling. So why not help enable them, right? Semi-regularly, we will provide you a couple of picks and one lead-pipe-lock that you can take to the bank. But if you take our advice and don't win any money, you aren't allowed to come bash are knee-caps in.

There are 144 games today and 17 ranked teams are in action. There are a lot of different plays to make, and we will try and guide you to the good ones.

Florida State (15-5, 5-1) at Clemson (14-6, 3-3)After Duke, the ACC is full of question marks. The league is starting to sort itself out, but there is still a lot of general mediocrity in the ACC. The Littlejohn Coliseum is a tough place to play, but this Clemson team just hasn't impressed me at all. FSU hasn't really impressed me either, but they are definitely better than Clemson, having beaten them back in December, 75-69. Plus FSU beat Duke, so I think they should be able to handle Clemson on the road.

Pick: Florida State +2.5

Louisville (16-4, 5-2) at UConn (17-2, 5-2)Kemba Walker is regressing a bit from his early-season ridiculousness, but the rest of his team has stepped up their play. That being said, wasn't it just a week ago that Louisville came back from down-18 late in the game to beat Marquette? Yes it was, but after that they lost to Providence. Then needed another buzzer-beater to beat a reeling-WVU squad. I like UConn in this one, and I think they cover.

Pick: UConn -3

Texas A&M (17-2, 4-1) at Nebraska (14-5, 2-3)I'm well aware that most of the Aggies success has come on their home court, and I'm well aware the Huskers are a tough-out at their home court. That being said, I still like Texas A&M in this one. Nebraska has played well against the top Big-12 schools, but has come up short nonetheless. I think the same thing happens when the Aggies come to town.

Pick: Texas A&M +1

Virginia (11-9, 2-4) at Wake Forest (7-13, 0-5)This one is too easy. A team playing Wake Forest is being favored BY ONLY 3.5 POINTS? I'll take that any day of the 2011 calender year. If Virginia doesn't win by atleast 3.5 points, I'll be very upset. Not because I will have made the wrong pick> No, I'll be pissed because no team in D-I hoops should be within 3.5 points of Wake Forest. That's how bad the Demon Deacons are.

Pick: Virginia -3.5

San Diego (4-17, 0-6) at Gonzaga (13-8, 3-3)OK, hear me out on this one. Gonzaga needs to win this game. They should win this game. if they don't they are in some serious trouble. But they will win this game. But, seeing the way they have played recently, I'll gladly take San Diego and the 23.5 points.

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